Brighton turns Orange in Aid of 13 day old Kit Tarka
Over 400 walkers took to the streets on the 5th July donning orange clothes and face paint to raise awareness of neonatal herpes and support Kit Tarka Foundation, in the process raising over £4k to help prevent newborn baby deaths.
Kit Tarka Foundation, named after founders Sarah and James de Malplaquet’s son Kit, has been running a very successful annual ‘Walk For Kit’ at Seven Sisters since 2018. In light of social distancing concerns, the charity this year asked walkers to wear orange and walk from their own homes, with prizes for best orange-based photos. All ages and abilities were welcome and on the day more than double the target of 200 people joined in.
Local street photographer JJ Waller, who has published several books on Brighton and whose ‘Lockdown Portraits’ of local residents has been picked up by national papers and government ads, documented the event, taking orange-strewn pictures of 12 households (see attached).
Kit Tarka was a Brighton resident who was born healthy but died when he was just 13 days old from the common cold sore virus. It is thought to kill one newborn baby every week in the UK yet most of the general public are not aware of the dangers and many doctors do not consider the virus in their diagnosis or only administer treatment when it is too late. Kit Tarka Foundation funds neonatal herpes research and works to raise awareness amongst the general public and medical profession. The small charity has been hit hard by Covid-19 as it looks set to lose £50,000 this year (80% of forecast income) due to cancelled fundraising events.
To find out more about the charity, including information on how to keep babies safe and how to donate or support the charity, go to www.kittarkafoundation.org